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Unions welcome new collective bargaining legislation

30 July 2015

Legislation just passed in parliament will provide important new rights for trade unions. It allow trade unions to represent members at the Labour Court where employers refuse to recognise unions, and secure legally binding benefits for workers. The legislation also defines what constitutes “collective bargaining” and offers guidelines to help the Labour Court identify if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer. Unions and worker representatives will be able to secure benefits in companies where employers refuse to pay the going rate and there will be stronger statutory protection against the victimisation of workers in such companies.
Read more at > IMPACTAnd at > SIPTU

Unions vote over new public sector deal

16 July 2015

Trade unions across the public sector are balloting their members over a new public sector agreement - the Lansdowne Road agreement - that will include the first steps in restoring some of the pay cuts faced by public sector workers over eight years. Members of the IMPACT trade union have voted three-to-one to back the deal which will include increases of around €2000 for most workers. Not all union executives have yet decided whether to recommend a "yes" vote, while the AHCPS leadership is recommending a "no" vote. The results of ballots from all public sector unions won’t be known until the autumn.
Read more at > IMPACTAnd at > SIPTUAnd at > CPSUAnd at > INMOAnd at > PSEUAnd at > AHCPS

Unions consult over pay restoration agreement

12 June 2015

Public service unions are consulting members of a new collective agreement - the Lansdowne Road agreement - that will include a range of measures to restore some of the pay cuts that have been implemented over the past six years. The first phase will take place in 2016 with the salary amount above which the pension levy is payable increased to €24,750 (from the current threshold of €15,000). This will reduce the pension levy by €600 per annum for all public servants earning above the threshold. Annualised salaries up to €24,000 will increase by 2.5% those between €24,001 and €31,000 will increase by 1%. There will be further phases later in 2016 and then in 2017.
Read more at > IMPACTAnd at > CPSUAnd at > SIPTUAnd at > PSEUAnd at > INMOAnd at > AHCPS

Unions welcome new collective bargaining legislation

15 May 2015

Public service unions, including IMPACT and SIPTU, have welcomed the publication of draft legislation on collective bargaining. The legislation should allow trade unions to represent members at the Labour Court where employers refuse to recognise unions, and secure legally binding benefits for workers. It will also mean that unions and worker representatives will be able to secure benefits in companies where employers refuse to pay the going rate. The legislation will also give new and stronger statutory protection against the victimisation of workers in such companies and define what constitutes “collective bargaining”.
Read more at > IMPACTAnd at > SIPTU

Talks in prospect to end emergency pay legislation

29 April 2015

Public service union IMPACT has welcomed the invitation to unions from Brendan Howlin, minister for public expenditure and reform to talks to discuss unwinding the emergency legislation that was used to cut public service pay. With more signs of an economic recovery and pay increases in the private sector, IMPACT wants to start to negotiate a recuperation of the pay lost by its members during the austerity measures.
Read more at > IMPACT

Young workers facing zero hours contracts and low pay

15 April 2015

A survey of the working lives of the under 35s, conducted by the Young Workers Network (YWN), has revealed that nearly 90% struggle to make ends meet with zero hour contracts and low pay the norm for many. The survey also found that 21% of respondents felt their job could end at any time, 20% were working on zero hour contracts and 20% said their employer gives them less than one day’s notice of their working hours. The survey is ill be part of a submission by the YWN to a study on zero hour contracts being conducted by the University of Limerick.
Read more at > SIPTU

Firefighters march over cuts to crewing levels

26 February 2015

Firefighters, members of the SIPTU trade union, organised a march in Dublin on 24 February to protest against cuts to the crewing levels of fire appliances. The union is angry about attempts by the government to unilaterally implement reductions in crewing levels which could undermine the safety of both firefighters and the public.
Read more at > SIPTU

Community workers protest over privatisation threat

26 February 2015

Members of the SIPTU and IMPACT trade unions joined a protest outside the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government on 18 February in opposition to the Department’s drive to privatise community social inclusion programmes. They were also protesting over the refusal of the Department to accept a Labour Court recommendation to negotiate with community workers and their union representatives concerning changes to their conditions of employment and threatened job losses.
Read more at > SIPTUAnd at > IMPACT

Austerity legislation repealed

31 October 2014

Unions have welcomed the announcement that the emergency FEMPI legislation is being repealed. This legislation gave public sector employers the power to make unilaterial changes to workers’ pay and conditions and was in force at the time of the last public sector negotiations. With the FEMPI law in the background unions were left with little room to maneouvre in negotiating the Haddington Road agreement. Other legal changes mean that civil servants will be covered by the same industrial relations machinery as other public sector workers.
Read more at > SIPTUAnd at > IMPACT

Union welcomes recruitment decision

31 October 2014

IMPACT has welcomed the announcement that there are to be no further reductions to public service jobs and that new posts are to be created for special needs assistants (SNAs), community and mental health staff and in the civil service. While there will be 365 new SNA posts, the union is concerned about the trend towards reduced hours. Some SNAs work only a few hours a week which creates problems not just in getting a decent income but also in having time to maintain a good relationship with the children they work with.
Read more at > IMPACT